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Christine a world health leader thanks to Senior Executive MBA

At the helm of one of the world’s leading paediatric hospitals, Professor Christine Kilpatrick (Senior Executive MBA 2007) manages thousands of people every day.

At the helm of one of the world’s leading paediatric hospitals, Professor Christine Kilpatrick (Senior Executive MBA 2007) manages thousands of people every day.

Christine, a former neurologist, has been the Chief Executive Officer of The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne since 2008 and said the SEMBA at Melbourne Business School gave her the skills and new knowledge she needed to be confident in her transition from clinical practice to management.

“It gave me a framework to think about how I’d lead and manage teams of people,” Christine said.

“There are different skills you need when moving from a role where you work as a doctor with a patient, a one-on-one relationship, to looking after huge cohorts of people and being responsible for a very diverse group of employees as well as the patients we treat.”

Christine said the SEMBA also gave her credibility and confidence in her management style and leadership capabilities.

“On a personal level, it has given me the confidence, and I believe that’s very important, to know I have the framework and background to be able to lead an organisation,” Christine said.

“I moved from being a clinician to a manager fairly quickly and I think a lot of people might have thought ‘how does a clinician know how to manage?’ I think the MBA gave me credibility as well.

“It provides you with detailed knowledge in accounting, financial management, financial systems, and IT, and although I have teams of people who work in those areas and they are much more skilled in those areas than I am, having knowledge to oversee those teams is extremely helpful.”